Age of no significance to Council Rock North’s Matt McHugh

NEWTOWN – To some, 27 might seem young to be named head coach of a high school football program. Not to Matt McHugh who was recently named to replace Adam Collachi, the outgoing skipper at Council Rock North.

“To me, age is just a number. Whether it happened at 30 or whether it happened at 27, I don’t think it really matters.

“It’s about what you bring to the program and making sure that the kids are buying into what you are telling them.

“If I can do that at 27 – great! That’s what a head coach is supposed to do.”

Because the sport has afforded him a lot of opportunities in life, McHugh wants to give back to the football community. Becoming a head coach as soon as the opportunity was available was a top priority to him.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted. Football has always given me a lot and I’ve learned a lot from playing the game.”

While his title at Upper Moreland might have been that of offensive coordinator, McHugh said he was much more than that to the Golden Bears. For one, McHugh headed the strength & conditioning program.

“I also helped out coaching the defense, filled in at head coach from time to time. I served as the equipment manager – anything you can think of, I did. That’s what you do at a small school; you don’t have the resources that you do at a Council Rock North.

“That helped jump start me and put me in a position toward being a head coach quicker than anyone would have ever thought.”

McHugh says he has learned a lot about coaching from Upper Moreland skipper Adam Beach and that he still corresponds with Mike Ricci, his old high school coach at Garnet Valley who still guides the Jaguars.

“Both of them have been very good mentors for me. Just from an Xs and Os standpoint, I had a chance to learn a lot at Upper Moreland.

The new coach says he still talks to Coach Ricci frequently.

“He’s an experienced coach who knows what he’s doing and knows what he’s talking about. Getting to know what his ideas are, his philosophies and how he runs a program is something that I highly respect.”

McHugh knows that not every high school player is taking his game to the next level. His job, he says, is about making sure all the players are prepared for whatever challenges lie ahead.

“I use football as a tool because that’s what it’s taught me – to take the thing that I’ve learned from football and implement them into life experiences.”

McHugh has his work cut out for him coming to CR North, which has already said goodbye to Gatorade All-State Player of the Year Brandon McIlwain. The South Carolina freshman threw for 1,720 yards and 18 TDs and also rushed for 1,545 yards and 31 TDs his last year with the Indians.

The 356 points posted by McIlwain and the offense helped the Rock win its first Suburban One League (SOL) title since 2006.

“Brandon was a phenomenal athlete, a once in a lifetime quarterback to come through that high school – to come through any high school in the area. For us to replace that is going to be an instrumental part of our offense.”

McHugh has five QBs on the current roster including junior Kevin Brandbergh and sophomore Matt McAlister. However, the coach stresses the team mantra on offense.

“It’s not going to be one guy; our identity isn’t going to go through one person. It’s going to be a team effort.

“We’re going to bring the concept of team effort to both sides of the ball – to the point that whoever comes into the position at quarterback will succeed.”

While senior wideout Devon Bibbens has not departed the Newtown campus yet, he’ll be gone by the time camp begins in August. Bibbens accounted for 603 yards receiving on 55 catches while hauling in seven touchdown aerials in 2015. His 1,200-plus career receiving yards helped the Indians to District 1 Class AAAA Tournament berths the last three seasons.

What’s more, defensive end Thomas Hewitt (Holy Cross) and linebacker James Closser, will also have graduated from Council Rock North. Both were first team All-SOL Continental Conference selections last year.

In addition to finding replacements for McIlwain and Bibbens, McHugh must find a way to clamp down on defense. In 10 regular season games last year, the Indians surrendered 265 points, not including a whopping 59 points in their lone playoff loss to Upper Darby.

That’s OK, says McHugh. Working at Upper Moreland gave the coach a chance to work on both sides of the football field.

“I’m going to be a head coach with a hand in both.

“Being at a smaller school like Upper Moreland, we collaborated a lot on both sides of the ball. So I am familiar with the defensive side of the ball and I do see myself being on that side of the ball at Council Rock.”

The defense was up and down last year at North. In the season opener, the Indians were outscored 35-6 in the second half in an embarrassing 56-36 loss to Perkiomen Valley. While it also struggled in losses to Pennsbury and Norristown, the CR North ‘D’ rose to the occasion in a big win over previously unbeaten Quakertown and a division-clinching triumph over sister school CR South.

The District One playoff opener with Upper Darby was a different story. While McIlwain amassed 230 yards rushing and scored five touchdowns, four on the ground and one via an 86-yard kick return, he was one-upped by Royals senior running back Isaiah Bruce. Besting his own single-game rushing record by 15 yards, Bruce was unstoppable, rushing for 337 yards and seven touchdowns to lead Darby to its first district playoff win in school history.

“When you have the offensive production that Brandon McIlwain had, sometimes the defense can get overlooked. It’s about the fundamentals on the defensive side of the ball – reading your keys and just doing your job, playing team defense.

“It’s all about playing team defense; you shouldn’t have one guy trying to do the whole thing.

“That’s what we want to do. We want to play all 11 guys and make sure that they’re in a position to be successful on the defensive side of the ball.”

By the time the next campaign kicks off, the Rock returns to the SOL National division, putting it back in conference with powerhouses Pennsbury, Neshaminy and Abington. What’s more, the new PIAA classifications will kick in, making the Indians a 6A football program.

“It’s difficult to say how it will play out. The best thing we can do is just prepare to put ourselves in a position to be successful every week.

“No matter what classification we’re in, ultimately, what we have to do is compete each week and give the kids a chance to win.”

Hmmm. That certainly sounds like a formula for coaching success.

We shall see. The Indians’ 2016 campaign kicks off Aug. 26 at Perkiomen Valley. McHugh has five months – not a lot of time – to get ready for the Vikings, a District 1-AAAA quarterfinalist last fall.

Regardless what becomes of the outcome, it will be a baptism by fire, for sure.